United States rail carload and intermodal volumes were down for the week ending September 21 according to data issued this week by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).
Rail carloads, at 250,794, fell 8% annually, trailing the week ending September 14 at 252,310 and topping the week ending September 7 at 238,988.
AAR said that only one of the ten carload commodity groups it tracks, chemicals, saw an annual gain, rising 532 carloads to 32,280. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2018 included coal, down 9,194 carloads, to 78,881; grain, down 4,300 carloads, to 19,018; and metallic ores and metals, down 2,122 carloads, to 21,905.
Intermodal containers and trailers, at 277,876, declined 5.7% annually, topping the weeks ending September 14 and September 7 at 274,424 and 230,297, respectively.
Through the first 38 weeks of 2019, U.S. rail carloads are down 3.6% to 9,613,796, and intermodal units, at 10,111,040, are off 4%.